The Big Story: Tinderbox

Officials in Karnataka’s Mangaluru imposed prohibitory orders for the next two weeks starting Sunday, making it illegal for crowds to gather in public in the coastal city that has frequently been the site of communal tensions. The orders for Mangaluru come even as prohibitory orders hit the 50-day mark in the taluk of Bantwal, as well as several other taluks, all in the district of Dakshina Kannada. The ostensible reason for Section 144, which prevents unlawful assemblies of more than four people in public, to be imposed are the recent clashes between communities that have flared up and even led to several deaths over the last few months.

The cycle began with the alleged stabbing of a Muslim youth on May 26, which led to clashes and prompted prohibitory orders to first be imposed in Bantwal. On June 21, 35-year-old Ashraf Kalai, an auto-rickshaw driver and activist for the Social Democratic Party of India, was dragged out of his vehicle and hacked to death by six people. A few weeks later, on July 4, Sharath Madivala, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker, was stabbed by unidentified assailants and died from his injuries three days later.

Each of these incidents has led to communal clashes, with the most recent being the huge gathering of RSS and other right-wing workers at the funeral for Madivala on July 8, which quickly became tense after the crowds were pelted with stones and bottles along their procession.

Politicians from both sides have meanwhile done little to calm the situation. Bharatiya Janata Party’s M Yeddyurappa promised that “fire would engulf the whole state” if an RSS leader was arrested in connection with the murder cases. This came after a video of district in-charge Minister B Ramanath Rai ordering the Superintendent of Police to arrest the same RSS leader went viral.

Dakshina Kannada is no stranger to communal tensions. Whether in Mangaluru or Bantwal, the district has been the site of numerous clashes and other forms of communal violence in the recent past. The current uptick however is more than likely to be connected to upcoming elections, due in the state next year. The Congress-run government accuses the BJP and the RSS of trying to polarise the area, as it did in Uttar Pradesh, while leaders from those organisations insist the Congress is simply protecting Muslims and not taking action against violent elements.

Amidst all this is a failure of policing. Nearly two months of prohibitory orders in Bantwal have not led to any appreciable improvement in the situation, with the government now being forced to extend the orders to Mangaluru as well. Previous cases of communal tension have not been resolved, and in many cases those allegedly responsible have not been prosecuted. “Such inaction will make communal elements confident that they can walk free despite indulging in communal clashes,” Jayanth V Shetty, retired Superintendent of Police (Intelligence) told the Deccan Chronicle.

With elections approaching, it is likely that things will only get worse. The RSS’ agenda is to polarise the community and sell the idea of a Congress that only cares about Muslims without bothering about Hindu sentiments. Congress leaders too easily fall into this narrative, mobilising their own support bases to fight back, even as the situation deteriorates.

Chief Minister Siddaramaih attempted to take a different tack on Sunday, telling reporters that “I’m also a Hindu. What is my name? It is Sidda-Rama. I’m also 100% Hindu,” and insisting that BJP workers do not speak for all Hindus and were instead simply pushing a Hindutva agenda. But while that may be important politicking for him, it does not engage with the law-and-order failures under his government in the district. Siddaramaiah’s first priority must be to ensure there is no violence, and it is incumbent on the BJP to follow suit. Janata Dal (Secular) chief HD Kumaraswamy has called on both parties to join a peace march, led by former Prime Minister Deve Gowda. Leaders on both sides need to listen and take advantage of such opportunities if they genuinely want to prevent more bloodshed with elections still some time away.

Samar Halankar explains what a BJP MP’s remark about a Karnataka leader and his Muslim wife really tells us.

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Punditry

“Do rudimentary courtesy to the public at a police station, registration of an FIR when a complaint is received, and acting against harassment of women in public spaces all need political direction?” Not at all, says RK Raghavan in the Hindu.

Can Hindutva politics deliver economic growth? Roshan Kishore in Mint looks at research on other parts of the world which concludes that if the political elite derives its legitimacy from the religious elite, it is unlikely to see economic progress.

Make transparency a patriotic duty, writes Venkatesh Nayak in the Indian Express, arguing that it is not enough for governments to simply expect applause for policies without making citizens privy to the processes behind them.

“Once an in-house bureaucratic process is set in motion, it will become a precedent for all time and may well be cited and manipulated by future governments at the Centre and the states to plant people regardless of their worth,” writes Shailaja Chandra in the Hindustan Times, opposing the idea of lateral entry into the civil services.

Not all Indian languages come from Sanskrit and there are more branches beyond the Indo-European and Dravidian ones, says Karthik Venkatesh in Mint, mapping out the large family tree that makes up India’s languages.

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“There are 18 million Kashmiris shouting for a political settlement and the Centre hears only one voice,” said Junaid Mattu, spokesperson for the National Conference, referring to Musa’s statements. “Most militants take up arms for political reasons, then it becomes other things. The main cause of radicalisation is New Delhi.”

The term that is repeated again and again in these Srinagar circles is “political radicalisation”, a hardening of positions that mirrors the hardening at the Centre, the rise of Hindutva in the rest of the country and growing support for militant nationalism. The police officer in Srinagar speaks of the Army chief’s award to Major Leetul Gogoi, the soldier responsible for tying up Farooq Ahmad Dar to an army jeep in Budgam district and using him as a “human shield”, the attacks on Kashmiri students on campuses outside the Valley, the lack of political engagement between the government and the separatists.

Adopting three simple habits can help maximise the benefits of existing sanitation infrastructure.

India’s sanitation problem is well documented – the country was recently declared as having the highest number of people living without basic sanitation facilities. Sanitation encompasses all conditions relating to public health - especially sewage disposal and access to clean drinking water. Due to associated losses in productivity caused by sickness, increased healthcare costs and increased mortality, India recorded a loss of 5.2% of its GDP to poor sanitation in 2015. As tremendous as the economic losses are, the on-ground, human consequences of poor sanitation are grim - about one in 10 deaths, according to the World Bank.

Poor sanitation contributes to about 10% of the world’s disease burden and is linked to even those diseases that may not present any correlation at first. For example, while lack of nutrition is a direct cause of anaemia, poor sanitation can contribute to the problem by causing intestinal diseases which prevent people from absorbing nutrition from their food. In fact, a study found a correlation between improved sanitation and reduced prevalence of anaemia in 14 Indian states. Diarrhoeal diseases, the most well-known consequence of poor sanitation, are the third largest cause of child mortality in India. They are also linked to undernutrition and stunting in children - 38% of Indian children exhibit stunted growth. Improved sanitation can also help reduce prevalence of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Though not a cause of high mortality rate, NTDs impair physical and cognitive development, contribute to mother and child illness and death and affect overall productivity. NTDs caused by parasitic worms - such as hookworms, whipworms etc. - infect millions every year and spread through open defecation. Improving toilet access and access to clean drinking water can significantly boost disease control programmes for diarrhoea, NTDs and other correlated conditions.

Unfortunately, with about 732 million people who have no access to toilets, India currently accounts for more than half of the world population that defecates in the open. India also accounts for the largest rural population living without access to clean water. Only 16% of India’s rural population is currently served by piped water.

However, there is cause for optimism. In the three years of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the country’s sanitation coverage has risen from 39% to 65% and eight states and Union Territories have been declared open defecation free. But lasting change cannot be ensured by the proliferation of sanitation infrastructure alone. Ensuring the usage of toilets is as important as building them, more so due to the cultural preference for open defecation in rural India.

According to the World Bank, hygiene promotion is essential to realise the potential of infrastructure investments in sanitation. Behavioural intervention is most successful when it targets few behaviours with the most potential for impact. An area of public health where behavioural training has made an impact is WASH - water, sanitation and hygiene - a key issue of UN Sustainable Development Goal 6. Compliance to WASH practices has the potential to reduce illness and death, poverty and improve overall socio-economic development. The UN has even marked observance days for each - World Water Day for water (22 March), World Toilet Day for sanitation (19 November) and Global Handwashing Day for hygiene (15 October).

At its simplest, the benefits of WASH can be availed through three simple habits that safeguard against disease - washing hands before eating, drinking clean water and using a clean toilet. Handwashing and use of toilets are some of the most important behavioural interventions that keep diarrhoeal diseases from spreading, while clean drinking water is essential to prevent water-borne diseases and adverse health effects of toxic contaminants. In India, Hindustan Unilever Limited launched the Swachh Aadat Swachh Bharat initiative, a WASH behaviour change programme, to complement the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Through its on-ground behaviour change model, SASB seeks to promote the three basic WASH habits to create long-lasting personal hygiene compliance among the populations it serves.

This touching film made as a part of SASB’s awareness campaign shows how lack of knowledge of basic hygiene practices means children miss out on developmental milestones due to preventable diseases.

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SASB created the Swachhata curriculum, a textbook to encourage adoption of personal hygiene among school going children. It makes use of conceptual learning to teach primary school students about cleanliness, germs and clean habits in an engaging manner. Swachh Basti is an extensive urban outreach programme for sensitising urban slum residents about WASH habits through demos, skits and etc. in partnership with key local stakeholders such as doctors, anganwadi workers and support groups. In Ghatkopar, Mumbai, HUL built the first-of-its-kind Suvidha Centre - an urban water, hygiene and sanitation community centre. It provides toilets, handwashing and shower facilities, safe drinking water and state-of-the-art laundry operations at an affordable cost to about 1,500 residents of the area.

HUL’s factory workers also act as Swachhata Doots, or messengers of change who teach the three habits of WASH in their own villages. This mobile-led rural behaviour change communication model also provides a volunteering opportunity to those who are busy but wish to make a difference. A toolkit especially designed for this purpose helps volunteers approach, explain and teach people in their immediate vicinity - their drivers, cooks, domestic helps etc. - about the three simple habits for better hygiene. This helps cast the net of awareness wider as regular interaction is conducive to habit formation. To learn more about their volunteering programme, click here. To learn more about the Swachh Aadat Swachh Bharat initiative, click here.

This article was produced by the Scroll marketing team on behalf of Hindustan Unilever and not by the Scroll editorial team.